Jakarta City Tour

Jakarta is the capital city and the main gate of Indonesia. It is a modern, yet a remarkable historical city. In the colonial age, it was named Batavia and dubbed ‘the Jewel of Asia’.

In this tour, our driver-guide will pick you up using a comfortable air-conditioned car from your location whether it is from your hotel, house, apartment, or airport to sightsee in Jakarta. Places to visit and time to spend are flexible. One day (10 hours) is a minimum time to spend. But you cannot see all Jakarta tourism places in one day only. Spending two-three days would be better.

Please feel free to contact us to arrange the tour. We will provide you a comfortable vehicle with an experienced driver. You can contact us via WhatsApp/Signal: +6285226126069 or email: suwarnaadi@gmail.com.

If you don’t know what to see in Jakarta, here we provide informational guide to know Jakarta.

Jakarta Old Town

Jakarta old town is centralized at Taman Fatahillah (Fatahillah Square). The square is located at Kota district, in West Jakarta regency, north coast of central Jakarta. The word “Kota” itself means city. It make sense, because the city center during Dutch/VOC colonialization was located here. The is also known as Kota Tua, means old town.

In the Dutch period, the city has name Batavia, means the land of the ancient Batavians tribe (a tribe in Netherlands). Batavia is the capital city of Dutch East Indies (Indonesian name under Dutch colony).

Batavia was built by Jan Pieterzon Coen, the leader of VOC (Verenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie or Dutch East India Company) in 1619 after conquered Sunda Kelapa port (or Jayakarta) from Fatahillah. VOC is the first multinational trading company that was backed by Dutch military. Coen built Batavia as the main supply station for VOC. To face the threat of attack from Banten Sultanate (West Java) and Mataram kingdom (Central Java), Coen built castle and perimeter wall to protect Batavia. In Batavia, Coen built city square with a city hall, warehouses, administration & commercial buildings, ship repairing center, and official residences.

The Batavia city square is now named Fatahillah Square. It is surrounded by importance Dutch buildings. They are:

City Hall (Governor Kantoor or Stadhuis). It is now Jakarta History Museum.
Dutch Church. It is now Puppet Museum.
Commercial offices, like insurance, shipping company, warehouse, etc.
Supreme Court of Justice Building. It is now Fine Arts & Ceramics Museum.
Cafe Batavia. It was used for different purposes: as a residence of Dutch Governor, a warehouse, and an office.
Banks. They are now Museum Bank Indonesia and Bank Mandiri Museum.
Jakarta Kota Train Station.
Post en Telegraaf Kantoor. It is now Kota Post Office.
The residence of Dutch East Indies Governor, Baron van Imhoff. The building is known as Toko Merah or Red Shop.

Not far from Fatahillah Square, there is a historical port named Sunda Kelapa, which means “coconut of Sunda”. Sunda Kelapa was a port area ruled by Sunda Kingdom before Jakarta existed. The port was the main gate of Batavia from other islands and countries.

Sunda Kelapa Port & Maritime Museum

Sunda Kelapa port is the historical port and was the main port in Java since Sunda Kingdom ruled West Java until the Dutch period. Dutch East Indies government built another big modern port in Tanjung Priok area, about 11 km east of Sunda Kelapa in the late 19th century to anticipate the opening of Suez Canal and to accommodate international ships that need a spacious and deeper harbour. Sunda Kelapa was hard to be developed more because of siltation dan narrow quay.

Sunda Kelapa is kept alive and now serving domestic cargo only. Indonesian sailor use Pinisi to sail from this port to another port on another island in Indonesia. Pinisi is a traditional two masted sailing vessel made of wood.

Monas Statue (National Monument)

Monas (Monumen Nasional or National monument) is the highest monument in Indonesia. The height is 132 m. The monument was built by Indonesia government under direction of the first Indonesia President, Mr. Sukarno in 1961. It was built to symbole the fight for Indonesian independence.

Monas is located in the center of Merdeka Square, Central Jakarta. The square is surrounded by importance government buildings like Merdeka Presidential Palace, Governor office (City hall), Constitutional Court, Supreme Court, US Embassy, National Museum, etc.

National Museum

National Museum is the biggest and the oldest museum in Indonesia collecting historical artifacts and other valuable collection related to Indonesian culture & human history. The museum is also called Museum Gajah (Elephant Museum), because there is a bronze elephant statue in its forecourt. The elephant statue was the gift of Siamese King Chulalangkorn in 1871 to Batavia government.

There are 2 main building that are connected each other: Elephant Building (Old Wing) & Arca Building (New Wing).

Old Wing

Old Wing building was built by Dutch government. It has about 141,000 objects consist of Hindu-Buddhist sculptures, inscriptions, ceramic, prehistory collection, numismatic collection, etc.

The biggest object collected in this building is Bhairawa statue. This giant statue was found in Padang Roco, West Sumatra. Dutch Government brought the statue to Batavia in 1937. The statue is made of andesite stone, is 4,41 m tall and weighs 4 tons. The statue is standing above a dwarf corpse surrounded by 8 skulls. His right hand is holding a knife, while his left hand is holding a bowl.

New Wing

The New Wing building is located on the right side of the Old Wing building. It was opened by Indonesia President, Mr. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on June 20th, 2007. This building has exhibition rooms, office, laboratory, etc. The exhibition is divided into 4 topics:

Man & Environment on 1st floor. It presents human and their environment during prehistoric period.
Knowledge, Technology, & Economy on 2nd floor. It displays collections and provide information about culture, technology and science that mankind use to live.
Social Organization and Settlement Patterns on 3rd floor. It provides information about human society that be be organized into few periods: prehistoric period, Hindu-Buddhist period, Islam period, and colonial era. It also displays ethnics collection like traditional house, traditional costume, traditional tools, modes of transport, etc.
The Treasure of Gold & Ceramic on 4th floor. It collects and displays treasures made of gold & silver, and other priceless jewelleries. The objects originate from the 8th – 15th century, during Hindu-Buddhist era. The objects were used by kings, queen, and kingdom relatives for ornamental and ceremonial purposes.

Istiqlal Mosque & Cathedral Church

Masjid Istiqlal (Istiqlal mosque) is the biggest mosque in South East Asia. It has total capacity 200,000 visitors, but ideally 120,000 visitors. Just like the Monas statue, this mosque was also built by government under direction of President Sukarno to commemorate the struggle for independence day. That is why the mosque was named Istiqlal, an Arabic word means independence. The mosque was built in front of Jakarta Cathedral Church to symbolize religious harmony and tolerance between each religion. Every Eid Mubarak or Eid Al Adha, muslim people park their vehicles at Jakarta Cathedral parking area, so the mosque can accommodate more people. Vice versa, on every Christmas, catholic people also park their vehicle at Istiqlal mosque parking area.

Glodok Chinatown

Jakarta has a chinatown located in Glodok districk, near Batavia Old Town (Kota Tua). In the chinatown, you can visit and walk along a local street market named Petak Sembilan market. On this street, there are many local sellers selling chinese ceremony needs such as chinese sky lanterns, envelopes, incense, birds (to be freed at temple), etc. They also sell local food like vegetables, fruits, sea cucumber, frog legs, pork, chicken, etc.

On the corner of the street, there are few Chinese Buddhist temples. Jin De Yuan temple is the oldest and biggest temple here, even in Jakarta. The temple is also called Vihara Dharma Bakti or Kim Tek Le Temple means virtues of the golden temple. It was built in 1650 by a Chinese Lieutenant named Kwee Hoen. The temple building is dominated by red and gold color on all sides and there is also a pair of lion sculptures or Bao Gu Shi brought from Kwangtung, China. This pair of lions is considered by local chinese to be the guardian of the temple.

On March 20th, 2015, the temple was damaged by fire caused by fire of a big candle touched tarpauline during preparation for Chinese New Year. Before the fire got bigger, the statue of Dewi Kwan Im, and several other statues, were saved. Totally there are more than 40 statues were damaged. The temple was restored back and take few years to rebuild it.

Indonesia Indah (Beautiful Indonesia Miniature Park)

Taman Mini “Indonesia Indah”, people simply call it Taman Mini is a synopsis of Indonesia culture in a giant park located in south east Jakarta. The park sits on an area about 150 hectares. In the park there 34 pavillions represent each 34 provinces in Indonesia. There were 27 pavillions when the park was built, because there were 27 provinces in Indonesia including East Timor Province. Now we have 34 provinces. Each pavillion has its own traditional house built in real size.

Ragunan Zoo

Ragunan Zoo is a giant zoo situated on an area of 140 hectares in South Jakarta. The zoo is used to conserve totally more than 4,000 animal specimens and many plants. Few of the zoo’s famous animals are: komodo dragon, orangutan, gorilla, anoa, sumatran tiger, sumatran elephant, tapir, bekantan, elang bondol (local eagle), & pelican.

In Ragunan Zoo, there is a well-known primate center named Schmutzer Primate Center. It was built in honor to Madam Pauline Antoinette Schmutzer-versteegh, a painter and animal lover who donated his money and initiated the building of primate center in Indonesia. She’s passed away before the primate center was done By The Gibbon Foundation. The center was built in an area of 13 ha. It is designed with an open concept zoo, where the animals look like live in their natural habitat. But in certain time, they were kept in the cage. Through its design, visitors are encouraged to take Gorilla Walk inside the center. Schmutzer Primate Center conserves different types of primate including orangutans, gorillas, chimpanzes, etc from Indonesia and other country.

There are three gorillas live in Schmutzer Primate Center. They are Komu, Kumbo, and Kimi. They were brought from Howletts Wildlife Park, England in 2002. At that time, Komu was five years old, while Kumbo & Kimi were seven years old. Kumbo is the biggest gorilla among them.

TAMAN WISATA ALAM ANGKE KAPUK (ANGKE-KAPUK NATURE TOURISM PARK OR MANGROVE FOREST)

TWA Angke-Kapuk is a nature conservatory site for maintaining healthy ecosystems at the coast area. It is located on north coast of West Jakarta and has an area about 99 hectares. The site mainly consists of mangrove forest. The mangrove forest is very important for Jakarta coast area, because it prevents the intrusion of seawater into the land. The forest also become a good house for various flora and fauna specimen. There are monitor lizard, crab, and some waterbird species. A watching tower is provided for visitors to see some beautiful birds and forest landscape from above. You can also walk through the path provide or rent a small boat to sightsee around.

Ancol Bay

Ancol Bay or Ancol Dreamland is a large recreational park located on Jakarta’s waterfront. It covers an area about 80 hectares. The park provides various facilities, ranging from water sports and beaches, fun rides, swimming pools, hotels & resorts, Seaworld oceanarium, seaside restaurants, Dutch Ereveld (Dutch cemetery), to Eco-Park, etc. It also provide a pier for visitors to visit Thousand Island.

Shopping Place

Jakarta is know as a business and trading area since long time ago, even since Jakarta was only a port area named Sunda Kelapa Port. The successor of Sunda Kelapa port for serving international cargo, Tanjung Priok Port is the largest port in Indonesia. Jakarta is also served by the biggest airport with 3 terminals in Indonesia, named Soekarno-Hatta International Airport. Those port & airport helped Jakarta grow even bigger as the business & trading city. Trading activities in Jakarta have attracted many tourists to visit marketplaces in the city. This attraction is know as shopping tourism. Jakarta offers both traditional and modern markets to pamper shoppers. Hereby are some of the shopping centers not to be missed, linked to their Google Maps points.

Specalty Markets

Jalan Surabaya Flea Market – President Bill Clinton visited this market during the 10th Non-aligned Movement Summit held in Jakarta in 1992.
Pramuka Drug Market – Established in 1975, this market has been known for a long time as the center market for medical equipment and medicines in Jakarta. The market is located on Jalan Pramuka, in front of Pramuka Bird Market.
Pramuka Bird Market – Sell different types of bird and other animals. Located behind Pasar Pramuka (Pramuka Drug Market).
Rawa Belong Flower Market
Gembrong Toy Market – Sell toys for kids with cheap price. Most toys are imported from China. Beside toys, there are also many carpet sellers.
Ancol Art Market – Art, painting & craft center located in Ancol Bay.
Mayestik Market – There are many textile shops, jewelry shops, and tailors.
Jakarta Gems Center Rawabening
Jatinegara Animals Market – Sell pet animals like cat, fish, dog, & reptile. Also sell pet food & accessories. There is no car parking. Cars can be parked in CityPlaza Mall Jatinegara parking area near the market.
JakBook Book Market – Sell new and used books. Located on the top floor of Kenari Market.

Wholesale markets

Tanah Abang Market – The biggest textile markets in South East Asia. Sell textiles, bags, shoes, etc. Blok A Building is the most popular one. Because traffic is crowded everyday, it is recommended to visit and reach Tanah Abang Market morning before 10 am.
ITC Mangga Dua – Cheap & wholesale fashion center in North Jakarta. Sell clothes, bags, accessories, perfume, etc in good price.
Pasar Pagi Mangga Dua – It’s connected with ITC Mangga Dua. So you can walk inside both of them.
Thamrin City – Known as the center muslim clothes, hajj souvenirs, and batik clothes in Jakarta.

Modern Shopping Malls

Plaza Indonesia
Kota Kasablanka
Grand Indonesia Shopping Town
Senayan City
Central Park
Pacific Place
Mall Taman Anggrek
Mall Kelapa Gading
Plaza Senayan
Sarinah
Senayan Park
Gandaria City
Lippo Mall Kemang
Lotte Shopping Avenue
Mall Ambassador

Recomended Restaurants

Cafe Batavia

This is a must-visit restaurant for Dutch tourists. This cafe & restaurant sit in an old Dutch building at Batavia old town square that is now has name Fatahillah Square. Dine-in at 2nd floor and near window is recommended, because you can see the view of the Dutch square while enjoying your dishes.

Cafe Batavia has authentic Indonesian, Asian, and Western food as well as beverages like sate ayam Madura, gado-gado Batavia, sop buntut, cendol, bir pletok, civet coffee, sandwiches, beef tenderloin, etc.

Bandar Djakarta Ancol

Do you like to eat seafood? If yes, Bandar Djakarta is the best choice to eat seafood. You can simply choose the dishes you want to eat from the menu, or choose some fresh fish you liked. Restaurant chef will cook it for you, then.

Besides its delicious dishes, you will also breathe the freshness of sea air, because Bandar Djakarta Ancol is located on the seaside of Ancol beach recreational park, north of Jakarta. To go there, you need to pay an entrance fee to enter Ancol recreational area. The entrance fee is IDR 25K/pax plus IDR 25K/car. Price may change later prior notice.

Natrabu Minang Restaurant

It is a popular Padang food restaurant located on a popular culinary spot in Jakarta, Jalan Sabang. It is not only famous for Indonesian people, but Malaysian also. Prime Ministers from Malaysia who have eaten here are PM Mahathir Mohammad and PM Najib.

Natrabu’s favorite food are beef rendang, dendeng, and ayam gulai. Those food including other dishes are served on the table, and you will be charge the dishes on the plates you have eaten only.

Natrabu serving concept is briliant. Interior is arranged in Minang style with a wedding stage on the corner where a couple can take photos on it.

The guest will served by waiters with an exceptional skill where they can carry a lot of plates on their hands. The waiters are also dressed in Minang traditional costume, so you will feel you are dining in Padang or West Sumatra.

Seribu Rasa

Seribu Rasa means one thousand flavors, is a restaurant offering Indonesian food, Asian food, and seafood. The restaurant has few branches in Jakarta, so you can visit the one near you: Seribu Rasa Menteng, Seribu Rasa Gunawarman, and Seribu Rasa @ Plaza Indonesia.

Tugu Kunstkring Paleis

Tugu Kunstkring Paleis is a restaurant that combines legendary colonial atmosphere, cuisine, art exhibition, gallery/shop, history, and heritage architecture.

Their best present is The Traditional Grand Rijsttafel that displays Indonesian dishes varying in spices and colors. The dishes are presented on the grand table at the main room. It is inspired by the Dutch plantation lords when welcoming important guests in the colonial period. The dishes are ranging from nasi uduk, karedok betawi, semur lidah, etc. The cuisines are delivered by waiters while performing dance, music, and parade with informal Dutch styled costumes.

And Other Restaurants

Queen’s Tandoor
Medan Baru
Angke Restaurant
Sedap Malam Seafood Restaurant
Pondok Laguna
Bunga Rampai
Bebek Bengil
Seribu Rasa
Warung MJS
Lara Djonggrang

Recommended Hotels in Jakarta

Pullman Thamrin

Situated in the heart of Jakarta business district, Thamrin. It is a sleek and elegant hotel good for business people. The hotel has conference and meeting facilities. Want to do shopping? Just cross the road in front of the hotel to visit the luxury shopping mall, Plaza Indonesia.

Pullman Central Park

It is another Pullman Hotel located out of central Jakarta but still in a strategic place in West Jakarta named Central Park or Podomoro City. Central Park is not a park, but a commercial superblock filled with a giant shopping mall Central Park, business towers, and apartments. The advantage of this hotel compared to Pullman Thamrin is Pullman Central Park is located closer to Soekarno Hatta International Airport.

Keraton at The Plaza

Keraton is a luxury hotel located at the city center, Thamrin business district, and near the famous Hotel Indonesia roundabout. The hotel is attached to the famous luxury shoping mall, Plaza Indonesia.

Borobudur Hotel

Located in Central Jakarta near Masjid Istiqlal, Presidential Palace, Jakarta Cathedral, and government offices. The area was named Weltevreden in the Dutch colonial period. This area was the colonial administrative center in the Dutch period after Daendels moved city center from Batavia to Weltevreden.

Westin Hotel

Westin Hotel is located on the top of the tallest tower in Jakarta, Gama Tower. The tower is 300 m height. On the tip top of the tower there is a rooftop cafe and a restaurant with 360 degree panoramic view of Jakarta city.

Hotel Indonesia Kempinski

Hotel Indonesia is the first 5 stars hotel in Jakarta and South East Asia. The hotel provides luxury facilities inspired by Indonesian art & cultures. Indonesia first president, Mr. Sukarno built Hotel Indonesia to welcome guest attending the 4th SEA Games (South East Asian Games) in 1962. Hotel Indonesia was not only functioned as a hotel, but also as an information center related to the Asian Games, Jakarta and Indonesian tourism.

It is strategically located at the famous roundabout in Jakarta, named Bundaran HI Roundabout with Welcome statue (Selamat Datang statue) in the middle of the roundabout. HI is the abbreviation of Hotel Indonesia. You can get a room with this statue view. It also has a private access to Grand Indonesia shopping mall.

In 2004 – 2009, HI underwent a total renovation. In 2009 HI was reopened and newly operated by Kempinski Group, a luxury hotel management company from Switzerland.

Other recommended hotels are: Manhattan Hotel, Artotel Hotel, Grand Hyatt, Ascott Thamrin, Ascott Kuningan, JW Marriot, Puri Casablanca, Raffles, Harris Kelapa Gading, etc.

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Jakarta City Tour with Private Car & Driver-Guide